


The Second Death of Shoeless Joe Jackson

by DocBeard



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-10-04
Updated: 2010-10-04
Packaged: 2017-10-12 10:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/123808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DocBeard/pseuds/DocBeard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Recovering from her ordeal at the hands of the mysterious psyche-twisting machine, Rose Lalonde lets her insecurity take the driver's seat, alienating her from the people she needs the most. Can she pull herself together in time to save John from the arch-enemy of baseball?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: The Next Day

_After the game came something…else. The special children were not allowed to interact with those they had saved, and so were consigned to the veil, to watch over their rebuilt homes and erk out some shadow of civilization alongside the exiled survivors of that version of the incephesphere's Prospit and Derse. While the circumstances of their victory were unusual, to say the least, policy is policy and so the four of them shared a little bungalow constructed from the remnants of their old homes. The perceptive could carve out a history of the incephesphere wars from the damage on the walls; a door Dave Strider removed from its hinges to block Haephestus's horrible lava breath, windows made from the futuristic glass that used to make up Jade Harley's greenhouse before a scream from the king of all crows shattered everything but the steel framework, a bit of rooftop from when the New Prospit's air cavalry ripped Rose Lalonde right off of her house during the blitz of the Land of Light and Rain, a kitchen where John Egbert confronted Jack Noir over what the madman did to the boy's father. Constructing the place felt a bit like sacrilege, but materials were at a premium inside of the veil. Brief trips to the new Earth could be made, certainly, but every trip there was a greater temptation to try and find someone one of the children used to know._

Used to know. What a pathetic phrase. Were they really lost family and friends, or just shadows in their image, one last vicious mockery from the evil sealed away at the end of the game? Was the game still going on, or had they stopped the ritual murder of worlds? Was it all just a complete waste of time? Was everything? What is theajdsksdashk. __

"Would you two." Rose Lalonde simmered from behind her laptop, peeking up at the flushed faces of her roommates as she pulled the baseball off of her keyboard and tossed it up and down in her hand, "Please take your shenanigans elsewhere? I am trying to write."

"That's the operative word, ain't it." Dave Strider snapped back, before his best friend John could apologize. Sometimes, you had to take a stand, or a woman would walk all over you just for the hell of it, or at least that is what Dave's education via rap videos and old Fraggle Rock episodes told him. "You've been stuck on that chapter of yer 'comprehensive history of post-skaian whateverthefuck' for how long now?"

"We couldn't hear you typing." John Egbert admitted, flushing a little more at the irritation on his friend's face as the unfortunate truth of that statement sank in. He held his hands up in a surrendering gesture, ignoring the pronounced eye rolling and arms crossing from Dave, "Since, you know, normally we try to respect your space and alone time and all the other things you pin on the refrigerator…well, I mean, you were typing, but not write-typing, just revising-typing-"

"Those sound different?" Rose raised a disbelieving eyebrow, not taking her eyes off of Strider in case the little weasel made a break for it.

"…you always sound…happier when you're making progress, like, uh, the sound of the keys is a little more...musical, I guess?" John often wondered why he ever opened his mouth around Rose, as he had the worst habit of letting incomprehensible nonsense spit out. "It's sort of like I can hear what language must sound like to you all of the time and stop making that face Dave." John swatted at the back of his best friend's head.

Rose was silent with what John assumed was fury and what Dave assumed was something entirely other. So he made a break for it, throwing John in front of him a little and outright bolting for the weird cowboy door Egbert had insisted on saving. Dave hated that door, but would forgive it all previous trespasses if it would just help him out a little here. Naturally, being a door, it did not care one way or the other and so nature took its course, with Rose beaning Dave on the back of the head with his own baseball before he could finish absconding. The coolest man in the world let out an undignified yelp, slipped over his own ironically untied shoelaces, and smacked himself on the face. Dave fell through the door, onto his hands and knees, and barely started moving again before the accursed cowboy door slapped him in the ass like he was a newborn and it was some negligent doctor after a few belts of the hard stuff.

John would have run to his friend for some sort of succor, or at least to frog him in the arm for trying to use him as a shield, but Rose apparently had other plans for his punishment. She had grabbed his sleeve in an iron hard grip, despite the fact that she could not even bring herself to look at his face. Realizing abruptly that he might have really and truly gone too far by discussing something the immensely private girl considered more secret than anything else, her writing, John swallowed the lump in his throat and tried not to think too hard about the horrible things she was undoubtedly thinking of doing to him.

"…if you are going to be nosy." Rose began her shoes no longer as interesting as the wall opposite of where John was, "You might as well be of use to me."

Confusion held a brief but brutal reign, only toppled by a sharp tug of Rose's hand sending John toppling to his knees. John would have put some space between them, what with it not being a life or death situation and all, but at this point he was fairly sure Rose would take that as another escape attempt and harpoon him with one of those needles of hers.

"Why the baseball?" Rose asked; John assumed she was straining to see his reaction to her writing, as he could not think of any other reason for her to lean into his shoulder slightly. "…for that matter, where did you find it?"

"Oh." John replied after a moment of recollection, "Ah, I thought it'd be a good idea to…teach some of the exile kids. Dave thought it'd be a better idea to make sure we actually knew how to play, first…" John sort of waved his free arm to explain the rest, which was a nice way of avoiding having to admit he was the one who threw the ball.

Rose looked up at him, eyes uncharacteristically trusting. As if she had this idea that he always told the truth or something. "…and I was an idiot and hit your laptop with the ball." John collapsed under the weight of the cynical girl's belief. "…urgh, and I let you beat up Dave, too. I'm sorry, Rose…"

"David." Rose insisted quickly, looking up from where she was hiding her smile(why she found John's admission of guilt endearing, she had no idea. She'd made an appointment with herself to analyze it.), "Can take care of himself." A hint of wry humor worked its way into Rose's expression, and John felt a cold sweat crawl down his spine. "Besides, he should appreciate the opportunity."

"What opportunity?" John managed, looking at the ceiling and willing himself to play dumb. He was not eager to arrive at the inevitable choice between being a bro and being a bro. "You make him sound like some sort of…opportunist."

"A real go getter?" Rose asked innocently, which is to say with an interest bordering on sadistic.

"An entrepreneur, even." John looked towards the kitchen door with a scowl. He felt her weight shift, worried he had offended her, and blanched as she had pulled up on one knee to address an invisible audience.

"Let me have men about me that are fat, sleek-headed men and such as sleep o'nights!" Rose used her free hand to ruffle John's hair, "'Yond Strider has a lean and hungry look; he thinks too much, such men are dangerous!"

She nearly fell over when John played along, crossing his arms and saying, "Into what dangers would you lead me, Lalonde, that you would have me seek into myself that which is not in me?"

"Mm. I cannot imagine why our young Strider would play up a minor bruising, or whom he would hope to illicit sympathy from." Rose replied airily, letting her lips tug up as John squirmed in protest to being drawn so close to a truth he already knew. "Good word, though."

\---

 

"…and he was the one that couldn't fucking throw in the first place!" Dave Strider enthused, which is to say he ranted without losing his essential cool. It was an important distinction and his audience was, fortunately, not one to question why. "But nah as soon as he opens his jagged bear trap of a mouth, the bitch-"

The kind soul that was gently putting a cold compress on his head paused to smack him in the arm with altogether less charity.

"-Rose…" Dave chewed the words as if being forced to swallow some rancid vegetable on the vague promise that it was good for him. "Instantly caves and takes it out on me so no one thinks she's gone soft! I'm not saying she should go all Lamb Chop on us but is an equitable distribution of harshness so much to ask?!"

"Who's Lamb Chop?" Jade Harley asked as she finished tying the shoestring around Dave's chin, keeping the makeshift ice pack attached to his head. She had spent some extra time making the knot interesting, with a fancy braided loop. The addition of a little frowny face bandage had been vociferously vetoed by Dave, though really it was only a matter of time, since previously he hadn't let her do the knot work. "All done!~"

"Sock puppet ewe, created by comedian Sheri Lewis in 1957 for a morning broadcast of local New York show 'Hi Mom'." Dave rapped out with the preprogrammed reverence of someone raised on a strict diet of catechism. "Most famous for her Emmy award winning run on Lamb Chop's Play Along, from 1992 to 1997 and you knew this already, didn't you."

Jade shrugged with an expression that gently mocked guilt for its pretension, ducking out of the way of Dave's snapped rubber band with a giggle. "Nice aim there Stttrrriiiddeeerrr!" Jade catcalled, popping back up from behind the Egbert countertop, using the Lalonde-originated slander on Dave's character to its fullest effect. She was rewarded with a hastily hurled sponge that she dodged with a leap to the left, complete with bionic woman special effects noises. "Did you know that Scooter guy had a sister?"

"Woman, you are meddling with forces you cannot comprehend." Dave warned, unable to keep his lips from curling up a little as he stalked the kitchen, just slow enough to be unable to toss anything at Harley's big mouth. "You're some schlub named Joe standing on the precipice of a volcano's hungry maw, having finally drunk enough of the damn kool-aid to shout out a challenge to a goddess that doesn't exist and each reference to anthropomorphic gophers is just another tiny shove closer to the best mud bath you've ever had." Dave then felt something wet on the back of his head, whipped around, and saw Jade kneeling behind the kitchen table, having just nailed him with a spitball.

Her face was a little flushed because she lost the guts to say, 'So I should get rid of the striped stockings?' at the last second and could only manage, "So you're jealous that Rose is nicer to John?" which was a bit contrary to her original plan of cheering Dave up but rather important regardless. "…or because John's nicer to Rose?~" Jade popped up like some kind of clumsy ferret, fixing her glasses and seeing Dave's back walking away. "…Dave? …no! I will not fall for this, Dave!" Jade stood up, stamped her foot, crossed her arms, and scowled.

For an entire minute. "…oh jeze Dave, I'm sorry!" Jade wailed, tugging on her sleeve with her teeth, grabbing her elbow with her other hand and holding back a sniffle. "I didn't think you'd take me seriously, you know I'd never hurt your feelings on purpose, so just come back…I should probably change the ice pack anyway, so please…" Screwing up her courage, Jade reached forward to grab Dave's shoulder, encouraged by the fact that the Knight of Time had not simply phased into nothing.

However when her hand passed through his shoulder, and torso, and hips, Jade realized that there is a whole lot of wiggle room between 'nothing' and 'something'. Jade's eyes widened and she hopped back a step, holding in a shriek of shock on account of some things being impossible to get used to, even after a year of sharing a house with someone. The shriek did fly, however, when Jade felt cold pressure on her back, coming approximately three feet to her left. She BUILT that sink and now it was being turned against her by the wicked grip of Dave Strider.

How do you sneak up on someone with a supernatural sense of every inch of space in her immediate area? Be somewhen else. "How was my aim again?" Dave was doing his best to seem cold and triumphant but a little chuckle broke through. "I. I can't hear you. Like you stuck your head in water or something. Why. Would that seem like a good idea?"

"pttthbt." Jade struggled, feeling like a ghost trying to duck a proton beam; every time she darted away, Dave's pitiless aim kept the spray from the sink's hose attachment trained on her. "You blub FINK!" Jade finally managed, swallowing water to get her say. "I was worried!"

"I'd be worried too, if I lost this easy." Dave observed placidly, adjusting his shades in his customarily badass manner.

This about did it for Jade's patience. "BANZAI!" The girl whooped, leaping in the air and soaking up the worst of the spray in order to plow into Dave. The Knight had to grip the counter to keep from tumbling over and onto the floor. The hose was hurled to the side, and Dave's previously pristine silk shirt was being ruined by the enthusiasm of his wild eyed friend. She was grabbing him and poking him and otherwise determined to ruin Dave's outfit, an act of revenge he thought was going a little far.

"Personal space!" Dave would have squeaked if Striders squeaked, ever. They do not, though, so he just muttered in a tenor. This seemed to only encourage Jade's insidiousness, however, so Dave struggled to shove the girl away. This was possible because of a potent combination of fury and embarrassment protection that a year living with someone provides. "Get off me you crazy dame!"

"Not until you're as drippy as I am!" Jade declared with a laugh, moving her head and back just so in order to slap Dave in the face with a curtain of sopping wet black hair. This had the previously unprecedented effect of shutting Dave up for a moment because, really, who does that?!

"Jade! What's wrong?!" Fearing the worst, John crashed into the kitchen soon after the first scream. Rose followed reluctantly, mostly to make sure nothing was broken. There was a minute of mortified silence, as John looked at Dave, and Jade, and Dave looked at John and Rose, and Jade looked at the ceiling in hopes of the Crow Pirates being kind enough to attack right about now.

No such luck. "Uh, John, we were just fooling around…" It wasn't the worst thing Dave could have said in the situation, but it was up there, and both girls slapped their faces with their palms.

John just smiled, his face a glassy expression often seen on lawn gnomes and the mugshots of serial killers. "David." He was across the room and holding Dave by the arm in a heartbeat. "We should go outside and discuss the peculiars of this evening's appointment with Miss Paint. We would not want anything to happen."

"Um." Dave struggled a little, digging his heels into the ground and trying to come up with a better argument. "You know I really don't like being called 'David'…"

"I'm so glad you agree." John continued with unforgiving cheer, physically lifting Dave up like a comically large mug of beer and starting to walk out of the kitchen. "We will not be but a moment!"

The door slammed, and uncomfortable silence stretched out, as unpleasant pictures of horrible pogo rides to hell played in the fertile fields of Rose and Jade's imaginations. Rose's patience with the silence snapped first; it reminded her too much of her old home. "…would it seem disingenuous to say 'you go girl'?"

She got an oven mitt in the face for her trouble.

\---

Outside in the Remnant the heat of the day was already giving way to the cool of evening. John's false smile stood fast as he frogmarched Dave closer and closer towards whatever unfortunate fate awaited Strider. Dave struggled a bit, cursed the powerful muscles an all cake diet built, and finally decided to activate his last resort and try talking about his problems.

"What the fuck, dog!" Dave exclaimed, going on the offensive in order to compensate for his cowardly tactics. Bro would be ashamed. "Alls I was doing was getting a little icey refreshment for the brutalizing of yours that somehow I got instead, and Harley was all 'bluh bluh bluh I'mma throw stuff at you.', how is any of this my fault?!"

"So there is fault to assign?" John asked monotonously, finally reaching his destination, the old tire swing tree that had somehow survived the whole nightmarish experience. He let Dave chew on that for a second before unceremoniously dumping Strider on his rear end. John knew that he was pushing it at this point, but the look on Dave's face was worth it. "(Hehehehehehehe)..."

"…" Dave's mind went into something as a lock as he started to realize who had just come out on top of the prankster's gambit here. Lalonde was right, Egbert really was the best there was. Damn if he would admit that, though, and Dave picked himself up and brushed himself off with all the solemn dignity of some majestic beast pretending it wasn't just embarrassed back there. "So what did you really want to talk about, jackass."

"The Ectoreciever's working." John exaggerated, blatantly ignoring Dave's skeptical glare. Some people had no head for science. "And after…uh, last week…"

"You mean when Rose went straight up bugfuck nuts and tried to feed us to invisible monsters that may or may not exist?" Dave offered glibly, taking a bit of pleasure in John's expression. Egbert could crow all he wanted, nothing Dave said was WRONG. "Because if you keep tip toeing around the subject like it's the world championship edition of 'Don't Wake Daddy' then no one's gonna know a damn thing you're saying, John."

"…after last week!" John insisted, crossing his arms and huffing a little because it's hard to run a happy face powered ship if someone keeps tossing the fuel overboard. "Well, I…here." John motioned at the tree, knowing full well he would get more cooperation from a Dave who was busy competing instead of poking holes in his argument. The gleam in his best friend's sunglasses told John all he needed to know, but in spite of the head start John found his head being occupied by Dave's foot, as Strider grabbed onto a branch and lifted his body up onto the middle of the tree. There was no beating Dave Strider at leaping headlong into a game of one-upmanship. He is simply the best there is.

"So your problem." Dave took a clearly unnecessary flip around the branch that John took as a personal slight as he struggled up the trunk of the tree. "Is that you're feelin all protective and shit and don't got the sand to up and say, 'Hey, woman, sit down and finish shaking the crazy bitch off before you go meddling in the impossible again.'-"

"When the heck has either of us called Rose 'woman'?" John asked, pulling at Dave's shoe out of a mild case of spite. "Last time you called her 'girly' she dunked your head in the-"

"SO," Dave interrupted quickly, hurling a stray acorn at John's face as he tried to pull his shoe free without scuffing it. "As per standard Egbert practice, when shit needs getting done you turn to Strider. The man, the myth," Dave balanced larkishly on a branch that should be too thin for a boy his size to stand on, giving a faux bow to an invisible audience. "The legend. Well golly gosh, I just don't know if I feel like being humiliated again today."

"All I want." John said, inching out on the branch himself at the careful pace of an overweight turtle. "Is for you to stick around tonight in case something goes wrong. That's it. I'll deal with telling Rose myself, okay?" John did not see Dave's grimace budge, and realized he had no choice. "Unless, I mean…"

"That's not gonna work, Egbutt." Dave snapped, looking away.

But John continued, smiling a tiny bit. "…you're afraid of your little sister's mean ol'temper." John paused, to let the caramel of shame melt evenly over Dave's ego. "If you want, I'm sure Jade'll let you hold her hand…"

There was a brief respite in the battle of wits, because the branch had wobbled dangerously and both boys did not want to be the first to fall to their deaths. Then Dave processed the rest of that sentence, shouted out an honest to gosh Texas war whoop and jumped John, grabbing for Egbert's neck and managing to break the damn branch anyway. Both boys screamed in that raucous way of youth as they fell, breaking a few more branches and very nearly upsetting a bee nest before becoming kissing cousins with mother earth.

Dave was on top of John, for a given value of on top, and took this as a personal victory. "I'll do it." Strider wheezed, rolling off of his friend and thumping his head against the soft grass.

\---

Was it sad, Rose Lalonde wondered to herself, that even when we were the last two human girls in existence, Jade and I would still be prone to these awkward silences? That thought process led down a dark road, so Rose focused on what she was doing; leaning languidly against the counter top, tracing an old slime ghost drawing John must have carved into the wood when he was younger with her finger. Riveting.

Jade seemed to be doing her very best to look at Rose with concern while not being obvious about it. Seeing as this consisted of Harley pacing back and forth, peeking at Rose through the corner of her eye, shaking her head as if forcing a thought into nothing, guiltily moving her hand up so she could cover her face while resuming to look at Rose and bite her lower lip, and quickly turning around and resuming her pace, Rose wasn't entirely sure if Jade was confused or just making fun of her. The wet, clinging gloom slowly crawled down Lalonde's soul as she found herself making the carving in the counter top a little bit worse with her nail, moving around in deliberate semi-circles. Maybe if I scratch hard enough, a quiet animal in the back of Rose's brain theorized, I can sand my fingers clean.

She could almost hear Jade's patience snap; though, Rose's senses were refined well enough that she could see shadows of two alternate Jades taking divergent paths, spiraling off into forever. Ugh, watching the universe expand hurt. "Screw it! Nrrgh, I-" Jade stomped forward, a fierce glare in her eyes. Rose would never say she was afraid of Jade Harley, at least not to her face, but there are times when endearing determination and disturbing obsession start to blend. Jade slammed her palm on the counter top and glowered very impressively for a whole second before realizing she had brought her palm down on a fork. Eyes tearing slightly, Jade pulled her hand back, skipping up and down in a rough circle and mouthing the ancient phrase 'ouchie ouchie ouchie ouchie ouchie!'.

"Hold on." It is amazing how doctors will never take their own advice, Rose reflected as she glided to her right, opening the first aid drawer while watching Jade sulkily stick half of her wounded palm in her mouth. She whimpered in a slightly canine way, though Rose admitted to herself that she might be projecting there. Jade's unique childhood left her with a few somewhat feral habits, but she usually didn't consciously imitate her former guardian. Rose held her hand out in what she would be upset to learn was a rather maternal fashion, unable to repress a small smile in spite of it all.

Jade shook her head quickly, taking a step back and looking to her left and right in order to assess different exits. "Mmm mmmh!"

"If you do not show me," Rose consigned herself into playing along, "I cannot make it any better. Is that what you want?"

Kicking at the ground in an aggressively childish manner, Jade reluctantly popped her hand out of her mouth, letting Rose gently assess the damage. "Is it bad?" Jade asked, though, Rose thought, the blood in her mouth should have already told Jade everything the girl needed to know.

"Not at all." Rose murmured, gently leading Jade to the sink and switching the hot water on. She gave it a moment to warm up, and saw a bit of genuine fear in Jade's eyes as the myopic girl glanced from the bottle of disinfectant, to the water, to Rose's free hand. Not wanting to hurt Jade any more than she already had (hah., a voice much like her mother's after a bottle of scotch mocked her.), Rose struggled for something comforting to say. "I'll hold your hand." Rose attempted, and was glad to see the echo of a smile on Jade's face.

Rose wiped the disinfectant on the spots that the fork punctured as gently as she was able, though Jade still squirmed and swallowed a yip. As the peroxide bubbled furiously, Rose made a mental note to have a long, painful talk with the boys about the merits of kitchen sanitation. "Shhh." Rose cooed unconsciously, running her thumb along Jade's hand, "Its almost over. We just need to wash it off."

"Mmmmph!" Jade's eyes widened as Rose quickly moved both of their hands under the water; Rose could understand, what with it being scalding, but Lalonde refused to court infection. Busy hands snapped back to life, as Rose finally put a bright green bandage on Jade's injury, and managed a weak smile.

"All done." Rose said, and the look of honest gratitude on her friend's face injected gleaming sincerity into her lips.

"Thank you Rose!" Jade enthused with what would probably be far too many exclamation points in a written conversation, wrapping her arms around Rose's shoulders and squeezing a little. "You're the best, you know that? Putting up with me being such a baby and all…"

"Everyone is squeamish about something." Rose countered, not entirely comfortable in the embrace but managing a pat on the back all the same. "I'm just glad I could help."

Jade pulled back, looked Rose in the eye, and smiled. "You always do."

Harley turned to run upstairs for some unfathomable reason, and Rose felt compelled to admit it, for once. "…thank you." Maybe she'd hear, maybe she would not, but Rose felt it was a positive step to admit out loud who was actually being helped, just now.

\---

The streets of Prospit (They would never admit that it wasn't the same Prospit, it simply wasn't done.) were a thousand shades of bronze, brass, tarnished gold, and amber. The Fantastic Kingdom's stellar docks were molded together from a dozen shattered paradises; blues, greens, and reds claimed sections of the dockyard for this faction or that company, but the docks as a whole belonged to the workers who squatted in shacks of slapped together daydreams and half-forgotten melodies.

Like all light, the glow of Prospit left shadows; inside one of these cheap homes, shade grew as if fed by the noontime sun. A frightened young carapace in a colorful dress and kerchief clutched her paint brush to her chest. Oh my, oh me, whatever was she doing here?! This was the bad part of the bad neighborhood on the bad hunk of the planet! Ms. Paint swallowed, knowing she had little choice but to wait for her-

"Aaah!" The carapace woman squealed, stumbling backwards and holding her hands in front of her face as she realized what was standing just to the side. "…oh. Oh. Its, ah, you. I'm so sorry, you just startled me…"

The grey figure held a finger in the air, hushing Ms. Paint for a moment. Two. Three. "Interlopers." The thing's harsh voice contrasted violently with the smile its thick black lips were almost always twisted into. But what Ms. Paint could not take her eyes off of were the alien teeth the thing had, a row of jagged, sharpened canines that could only belong to a species designed to rend and gnash and rip meat from fat chunks to thin strips. "Is everything ready?"

"…do…do you…" Ms. Paint screwed up all of her courage to press forward in spite of the whirling saws inside of the thing's mouth. "…do you promise that, this time, things will be…settled? I…its bad enough I'm…" She looked at the ground, overcome by shame.

"Do you." The voice echoed back, and Ms. Paint felt the cold touch of metal against her chin as her head was moved up to endure that horrible mouth again. "Doubt my word?"

Oh skaia. "N-no! Of course not! Just…"

"Then do as you are told." The thing recommended, shoving a parcel into her hands. "You can go, now. Don't want to be late for your appointment."

Ms. Paint ran, gripping the parcel to her chest, head dipped in fear and shoulders strained with shame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. If you haven't read it, this is a sequel to Tale of Archane, which is on here too. Let me know if the setting is confusing or poorly presented.


	2. Chapter 2: Rose Lalonde And The Infinite Sadness

"Miss Rose, Miss Rose!"

"What?" Rose Lalonde adjusted her bonnet and looked outside, past the white carapaced post woman's finger towards the horizon. It was tough being the most educated person in the small town of Rainy Lights, and Rose was sure this wasn't in a schoolteacher's job description. She strained against the light to see a vague floating form in the distance. "What the devil is that?"

"It's awful, Miss Rose!" The post woman insisted, moving around franticly because that was just the way things were done around here. "They went and took the whole school, an Pastor Strider too!"

Lalonde snorted at the thought of their town's shyster of a preacher man, but then the rest of the warning seeped in. "What? That's impossible. No one could just up and take a building, it's too big!" She'd regret saying that when budget time came.

"Tell her that!" The post woman leaped to the ground, covering her head with her hands. Rose ducked instinctively, and was shocked to see her brand new schoolhouse wafting gently through the air. It was connected by virtue of several reinforced cables and what could only be a strong argument for the existence of the divine to a brass shod wicker basket, which was kept in the air on account of its being attached to an enormous green hot air balloon, which had a stylized blue image of a pair of glasses, a lady's cut bowler hat and a pair of buck teeth around which thin lips were pulled into a cruel smirk.

"My God." Rose managed, her knees week with the shock of it all. "Its real. The Baroness van Harley! With a building full of innocent school children!"

"Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!" Jade Harley, armed with a billowing suit-dress and a pair of steel shot boots laughed manically at the peril she had wrought. "A little late to the party, eh Rose?! Sorry to run like this, but I never was any good at sharing…"

"There are children in there you maniac!" Rose bellowed back, having 'borrowed' the postal woman's horse to keep up with the hot air balloon. "They have nothing to do with your vendetta against the civilized world!"

"Wrong!" van Harley snapped, suddenly enraged at the existence of her old rival, "They have EVERYTHING to do with completing my grandfather's sacred mission! But…" The wickedly intelligent face turned sly at some cruel thought, "If it bothers you that much, just think of this…as a field trip!" The mad heiress pulled her patented launching device up against her shoulder, stuck her tongue out, and fired!

"What on earth…?" Rose began, before getting shot in the face by a mutated squid. This was bad for several reasons, including a sudden loss of air, the cold clammy feel of purple and pink tentacles, the near blindness the thing's position on her face caused, but perhaps most upsetting was the fact that the force of the shot shoved Rose off of her horse. Gosh, Rose thought as she gripped at the air desperately, it is going to be kind of embarrassing dieing because a silly girl shot me off of my horse.

"To say nothing of the Jungian implications of the act." The squid said in a voice eerily like hers. She hardly had time to respond, however, as Rose could feel the hungry earth coming closer and closer; then, there was a weightless feeling as a warm hand touched her stomach, and Rose's insides lurched as she was hefted up and onto a moving animal. Wrapping her arms around her unknown savior's midsection to keep balanced, Rose struggled to speak.

"Hold on there Miss Rose!" A voice that was oddly familiar rung in her ears. "Just gotta apply a little sea salt to yonder octowhatsis's grippers and wallah!" Rose felt a bit mortified, but grateful to have her sight back. The man who rescued her was a broad figure in an old blue cavalry outfit, with a little green ghost pinned where the rank symbol should be. He wore a broad blue hat, which was tied to a bright blue bandanna that covered his face, and a black domino mask obscuring his eyes.

"The Blue Ghost!" Rose exclaimed breathlessly because, of course it was. Who was she expecting, shy John Egbert who ran his father's bakery back in town? Struggling to recover her balance, Rose managed a more characteristic smirk, "…I, ah, thank you." Wait that wasn't nearly as witty as it was supposed to be.

"Fascinating." The squid droned coldly, "The utterly mundane is made more intriguing by the deliberate self deception. It almost makes up for the death of feminism."

"Twernt nothing, ma'am." The Blue Ghost clucked with a bit of pride, refocusing on where he was riding. "I don't suppose I could convince you to let me handle rescuing those little varmints myself, huh?"

"You're kidding." Rose noted, getting into the role a little. "If I head home, who is going to help when you get caught in whatever trap the Baroness has set in anticipation of your interference?"

The mysterious vigilante just laughed, a bold sound that managed to be deferential and confident all at once. When combined with the wind in her hair and the smell of the open prairie and the feel of Specter the horse beneath her, it all made Rose feel intoxicated and she had to struggle with the urge to lean her head against his back.

"Here we see a return to the overarching theme of self denial." The squid droned, and it really kind of hurt to listen to. Why did it have to ruin everything? "Why indeed. Perhaps you feel as though you do not deserve even the simple respite of the fantastic. The element of mystery reinforces how unattainable happiness is for you…"

"Rose?" The Blue Ghost's voice toned down, sounding gentle and concerned instead of big and brassy. "Rose, can you hear me?"

"Stop it…" Rose groaned, holding her head in her hands. "Please, just a little bit more…"

"Rose?"

"Aah!" Rose Lalonde exclaimed, in the little couch in their little living room in the massive monument to pretending their old lives still existed. Wow, that was bitter, Rose thought, as the rest of her focused on trite assurances like 'I am home' 'I am safe' 'I am not feeding my friends to the devil.'. Her hand was touching someone's face and she could hear breathing in the back; her vision finished sharpening and look it was John, red faced with embarrassment. "s-sorry."

"I didn't really um oh no! No no! Its. My fault for spooking you." John pulled away quickly, rubbing the back of his head and coughing. "Um, do you need a minute?"

"No, its fine." Rose felt her own cheeks warming up from the sneering stares of her other two roommates. Her own current state of being was bad enough, not to mention John's obvious disgust at coming into contact with her, but her 'friends' taking clear enjoyment from her humiliation was unbearable. Dignity had to be restored. "Just cough or something next time."

"Will do." John seemed to wilt for some reason, Rose could only assume relief. She rose and forced herself back under control. Perfect discipline was the hallmark of any competent sorceress. She was totally in control. There would be no more slip ups on her watch, by God. "…what?"

"You're glowing." Jade offered, cheerful in spite of the safe distance between the two girls. Rose blinked, looked down at the aura of power that had stretched over her body, and dispelled it with a thought.

"Far be it from me to interrupt the awkward pauses." Dave just had to chime in, loving soul that he was. "But could we maybe get this train wreck going? Only I got places to be, see."

"Thanks, Dave." John spat out curtly, and that's when the dread really started rising on Rose's soul. He only got like that when he was trying to manage to say something uncomfortable. Like knowing a boy well enough to know his non verbal patterns by heart, Rose argued with herself, that was damn uncomfortable. "Look, I know you've been eager to get back to work, and promised Ms. Paint you'd help her out tonight…"

"And we should always keep our promises." Rose cut him off, a bit cruelly. Shame warred with pride and there was no real winner.

"Sure." John replied, rubbing his face and swallowing a scowl. She wouldn't make him say it, would she? "Of course. But…" Yep, she would. "…after what happened, well…and we've been working on a gadget that should let another one of us-"

"I'm unfit for duty, then?" Rose inquired coldly, crossing her arms and frowning in minute disapproval. Her insides were imploring her to stop, to at least slow down and let John insult her before getting angry, to give him a chance to explain himself, but Rose was committed to the battle now. "…damaged material."

"No!" John implored with a suddenness that implied some of the hours he'd spent agonizing over how to express himself in a way to avoid exactly this outcome. "No, Rose, just. Just listen to me, okay? You can yell at me all you want but please just let me explain?"

"You had Jade build another one of your ideas." Rose deduced, letting her lips curl up in desertion at the flash of shame in John's eye that confirmed her theory. Amateur. "You believe this will let you contact the other side as well as my art would manage, allowing you to, again, bare the collective burden of those under your enlightened guidance."

Rose did not need the hurt look in Jade's eyes or the barely disguised glare from beneath Dave's sunglasses to know she had stopped dancing on the threshold of too far, fallen over the line, and stumbled straight down the yawning slopes of a mountain mid avalanche into the valley of wow I've never seen John look at me like that before. Her chest tightened as her senses swam with apprehension, regret, anticipation, and the thrill of battle; John grabbed her wrists as he hunched forward, trying to force a pause in the conversation in order to actually explain his idea before being rejected.

"Rose, I'm not trying to take anything from you." John spoke with such primal sincerity that Rose felt physically hurt. What was she doing?! But there was no time to think as John pressed on, "Jade and I built something to help. That's all we want to do. All anyone in this room wants is you happy, safe, and healthy. Please don't do this-if you're mad, talk to me, but don't-"

"I am talking." Rose lied, the thrill of the duel replaced by an icy twinge of terror. How had this foolish, silly boy come to know her so well? How dare he presume to assume anything about how Rose thought and felt and have the gall to be right about it? Desperate, cornered, Rose went for a low blow. "You are hurting me."

John folded as predicted; he paled, realized that he was in fact touching her, dropped her arms as though fleshly contact burned him, stumbled backwards and his chin shuddered. This wouldn't last, Rose assured herself, but it would do for her purposes. "Rose," He stuttered, "I, I'm sorr-"

No! "You can do whatever you want." Rose snapped with more venom than she had intended to expose, her head reeling with the sheer illogic of the entire argument. She needed air. She needed to win. She twisted the knife. "Sir." Senses spinning, Rose turned around and stormed towards the door, moving with the desperate precision of a woman who had chewed off her own leg and had to get out of the room before the whole action was made useless.

A careful silence descended on the room, as two children looked at each other, and then the hunched over form of their friend. A silent rendition of the classic, 'After you?', 'No, after you!' bit danced between Jade and Dave as they chewed on the awkward, voyeuristic feel of an intimate argument spied upon. Before a consensus could be reached, the pair jumped at a sudden, forceful sound from their front.

"Fuck!" John shouted violently, his breath snapping in the air despite the heat of the afternoon as he hefted the large leather couch they had scavenged from a clockwork monster rummage sale up over his head, "Fuck!", and proceeded to smash it into the floor. The machine couch crumpled under the force and its own suddenly uneven weight, cracking in half and falling into a pile of cogs, strips of leather, and soft feather cushioning. For a few terrible moments, the only sound in the room was the greedy gasping of the Heir of Breath and the tinkle of smashed clockwork. "Fuck!"

"My couch!" Dave finally exclaimed, despite Jade's frantic protests, kneeling down by the remnants and bowing his head at the shame of it all. "Jesus Christ, John, when did you start-"

"I'm going for a walk." The reply cut Dave off mid rant, and Strider avoided looking at Jade for fear of making things worse. If the earlier bellowing John was a bizarre aberration, this ice cold version was just unnatural, and neither chum could bring themselves to protest as Egbert stomped out of the back door.

Wondering when exactly he had become such a fucking softie, Dave found himself wiping at the subtle tears that were forming at Jade's eyes and plastering on a smile. "Well, you were right." It was weird as hell, how does John do this all the time? "That went way better than expected."

Jade did not laugh, but she did stand up straight again, sighing a bit fondly at Dave. "Come on, this isn't going to clean up itself. And the last thing we want to do is keep THEM waiting."

"Oh, Christ yes, if there's one thing I seriously have as a priority in my life, its making sure those fuckers aren't inconvenienced by any blips in the schedule." Dave rolled his eyes as he stood up, grimacing at the gentle punch in the shoulder Jade gave him in turn. "Damn, girl, you got me all worked up now, just thinking about how bad that'd be. You. You're gonna have to go on without me."

"Its okay, Dave." Jade soothed, smiling as she stood on her tip toes to ruffle his hair, "I'll let you hold my hand, alright?"

It took Dave a second to realize he was being mocked. "…hey!"

\---

 

On the border between the plains of wind and shade and the pit of heat and clockwork, a pair of crocodile men walked along a brass and steel bridge. One had an arm full of deep blue rocks, and the other was peering through a pair of bronze binoculars.

"Look quick!" The Scout said, motioning over yonder. "Whole patchya shrooms. We get that, we'll be heroes! Eat well for a week!"

The Worker settled down his burden and scowled, looking down, and then up. He was not a lizard of words and tugged on his compatriot's shoulder instead, motioning up. The Spy indulged his friend, and stepped back in panic at the sight; a crude drawing of a face with horrible pointed teeth and a pair of candy corn colored horns.

"Damn Troll Rock!" The Spy spat, shaking his fist at the loathed symbol. "Think they can just say what's theirs and what ain't."

But they listened, the Worker thought to himself as he hefted the salvage up and turned around. A scuffle can easily turn into a lava bath in the pit, though, which is why most socially aware types like the Worker quickly became the strong, silent type, or something else's dinner.

Troll Rock was not a rock per say, though the confusion is understandable. At the tip of a jagged hill of shale an unnaturally round asteroid had slammed into the ground, throwing up a small fortune's worth of cobalt and ruby. The inside was hollow, and large enough to hold twelve people in relative comfort; trolls rarely appreciated little things like that, however, so of the twelve who could live in the rock, more often than not no more than six or eight were ever in residence at a time. No one quite knew why Karkat Vantas, a short horned troll infamous for his temper and distain for anything else that happened to be alive, kept letting the other trolls come in and out like he was running some sort of youth center; when asked, Vantas would just insist that it wasn't his decision.

Vantas stood at a window carved into the rock for the purposes of expanding the hive, hands clasped behind his back as he did not worry about anyone. It was certainly not his responsibility to look after any of the idiots who'd survived the death of Alternia with him, and even if it were Karkat certainly wasn't the type to stand by the window, glare down into a sea of lava and brood on the possible fate any of the idiots in question were facing. It was none of your business why he was staring out of the window, and if you have time to ask stupid questions you have time to be working anyway, so get out of his face!

Normally, a paranoid mind like Karkat's would demand some sort of reaction to the sudden introduction of weight against his shoulders. After all, the Remnant was no Skaian Battlefield but it was still damn dangerous, even when you didn't room with a tribe of super powered sociopaths. But one of the difficult lessons Karkat had learned over his time away from the mother planet was that, sometimes, the best way to get under a certain person's skin was to do nothing at all. So Karkat refused to react when the weight dug in a little, warmth flashing across his skin, when the cool feeling of silken hair touched his cheek, when the hot breath blew into his ear and he could almost feel that irritating little giggle that was always threatening to burst out of her lips. This was possible, despite his blood boiling and the bile in his heart demanding action, because Karkat knew in his secret heart that this was driving her just as mad.

"Karkat…" Terezi Pyrope would describe her tone of voice as 'purring' but she was also a notorious liar. Her lips were quirked into a little grin as she fought the urge to scream and the urge to laugh all at once; sure, the news was important, but it'd been so long since Karkat had bothered playing with her, and to try a new game? Well, a girl just had to have her priorities. "…am I boring you? Have you become so used to my…" She shifted a bit of her weight obscenely, drinking the discomfort the boy playing at stoicism radiated. "…presence that I can't even get a hello? 'How was your trip, Terezi?' 'Did you do anything fun, Terezi?' 'Did you miss my shrill voice and delicate bone structure, Terezi?', not even a little old 'Damn you blind harlot!' and an impotent shake of the fist?"

"Maybe you could try something new." Karkat countered in his best 'uncaring' tone of voice. He was not angry he was not angry he was not angry. "You could be polite, reasonable, and deferential to a superior mind. My heart might stop from the shock."

"How would I ever know what color your blood is then?" Terezi hid her irritation behind mirth, turning around and laying languidly on Vantas's back, letting her head pass his so she could make 'eye contact' with him. The very thought made her sides shake with barely suppressed mirth; making eye contact! "I tell you what, just to show you what a good girl I can be…if you ever manage to find a 'superior mind'…seeing me on my knees won't just be a dream you keep in the back of your bone box anymore…"

"I could snap your miserable neck right now, and not a thing on this abortion of a planet would care." Karkat breathed shallowly, his eyes pinpricks of fury. He went for the jugular, "No one to arrest me, no courts to try me. No law to break."

There was a murderous pause before Terezi spoke; Karkat counted this as a personal victory, even as his stomach clenched at the expression on her face. "Everything went fine. There's no sign of her, yet, but that means no one else has a lead either. I'll leave you alone now." The weight shifted, but Terezi felt a grip around her wrist. Her other hand eased into her preferred combat stance as she sent a shocked look at Vantas.

He wasn't looking at her, but the lava river that came a little closer every week or so. "…sorry." If not for her sensitive ears, she wouldn't have heard it. It almost sounded sincere.

Rubbing her wrist, Terezi wordlessly left the room, wishing her face didn't taste like a blue-green paradise pop.

\---

Rose Lalonde rubbed her shoulders in a vain attempt to stave off the chill the plains of wind and shade's perpetual breeze ran up her spine. She hadn't enjoyed putting on her little performance; at the very least, the mildly disapproving glance David gave her through the whole thing was insufferable. As if he was aware of her actions and rather than have the decency to take a stand, he was just…sad. As if he understood. The bastard. Either way, Rose may not have enjoyed fighting with the others, but the show of strength was necessary; the moment a wizard showed weakness was the moment the forces she trucked with consumed her whole. They couldn't down her commitment to the cause again, even…no, especially over some trifle. A little discomfort was well worth it.

But if it were a little discomfort, Rose would not have come here; one of her favorite places in the Remnant, along the sharp incline where the plains gave way to the churning palette of the sea of light and rain. Home, in a way even Earth never was, or perhaps in a way she has yet to allow any other place to be. The thick, melted black licorice looking river split through the gentle blue hills crept towards a massive drop; but first, shimmering rainbow lights combed through the oily water, the intense solid light forcing the heavier shale to the right while the purified water poured through the natural dam. The colors only increased in potency as the water passed through the Rainbow Estuary, and the collective heat of the yellows, reds and purples caused the water to burn away, forming a thick cloud of steam just as it passed the cusp of the incline.

The effect gave the region its name, the Steam Falls, as a thousand colors exploded over and down the drop, feeding the clouds that churned with the eternal rainstorm that kept the sea fresh and its people alive. This late in the day, the spectrum had faded to a gentle swirl of violet, orange, and pale green that could be watched without damaging the naked eye. If Rose was that sort of girl, it would probably be an ideal place to take someone for an in depth discussion of literature. Fortunately, she was above such indulgences, and simply drew composure from the rhythm of nature. If no where else, here at least Rose could be assured of the peace and quiet she needed to bring her thoughts into order.

"Ow!" John Egbert snapped, waving his arm wildly while sending a glare that wouldn't intimidate an agoraphobic rabbit at the steam vent that scalded his hand. "Lousy stupid thermodynamics!"

Shit, Rose thought from her impromptu reconnaissance headquarters sandwiched between a pair of trees and a helpful crystal bush. What was he doing out here? Enjoying nature? That selfish prick!, Rose shook her head at the self recriminating thoughts as she stilled herself, hoping to never come to the young man's notice. Its not like he'd be out here for anything important, anyway, she rationalized as she crouched down to a more comfortable position.

Never suspecting a thing, John stuck the handle of his hammer into the ground, struggling for a moment with the rough, rocky soil. He quickly hopped backwards, managing to avoid the splash of rainbow liquid by a hair. Settling down against a tree, John rested his head for a moment but did not indulge in closing his eyes for long. The gentle flow of water shimmered in the light, and it nearly took Rose's breath away to see a faint impression of a well built man in an old fashioned hat and tie. John's father.

"Hey, dad." John forced out after a choked moment or two of recognition. "Hope you don't mind…hah, not that you can hear me or anything, but it still feels kind of like I'm imposing. Weird, huh?" Egbert paused, rubbing his face with his hand and letting out a sigh. "I messed up today. Again. Hah, yeah, I know, its not exactly a surprise, but this was a big one. The big one, I guess. Jade's barely said a word to me since that fight on Derse I told you about, which has Dave on edge because he doesn't know how to handle her holding a grudge or what side to take. And to top it all off…"

"…well, you know the rest." John stood, watching over the image of the man who was once his father, closed his eyes, let out a massive, body shaking sigh, and turned to leave. He never suspected a thing. He didn't even mention her.

It was foolish, and selfish, and petty, and a dozen other things she was above but Rose felt a bizarre weight behind her eyes and lump in her throat, her thoughts ruthlessly circling this one fact. She rose, gracefully as always, and gently stepped over to the pool, staying there for the whole of the afternoon in hopes that the magic water would know what she wanted to see without her having to say it out loud.

\---

 

"So…" Jade Harley trailed off as she walked (backwards of course) down the cool, natural roads carved through the dry grasslands created by proximity to the valley of heat and clockwork. "…how exactly does this work again?"

Dave Strider let out a sigh, mostly irritated that his mild annoyance only seemed to encourage the girl. Maybe she'll pay attention this time. "Shit this was all Egbert's idea anyway, why am I teaching Mogwli the basics. Alright, perky, try to focus on something besides all the bugs you wanna eat, huh?"

"Cause I asked you." Jade pointed out, busy balancing on a log instead of paying attention to Dave. "Annnnnnnnnd 'cause of some other stuff you don't want me to say." With a sudden thump of force, Jade's left leg smashed through a rotten spot on the log. She wobbles the other way, her head falling back and allowing her to catch a glimpse of rough hands grabbing her shoulders. Unsure of what to say and not wanting to humiliate her friend, Jade finds herself chirping out a giggle. "Oh my gosh I'm such a klutz!"

"Pretty much." Dave grumbled, making as if to drop the girl and causing her to squeal and kick and finally pull herself into a relative standing position. He crossed his arms, tapped his foot and said everything he couldn't begin to verbalize, and Jade had to laugh again at the sheer humanity of it. "You are such a doofus." Dave couldn't keep the fondness entirely out of his voice, to his chagrin, and abruptly started walking again to make up for the lapse.

"Sooooo?" There she was, skipping, actually straight up skipping after him, smile on her face like she was playing the best game ever. "How's this game of John's work anyway?"

"Fine." Dave Strider did not pout, so he wasn't sure what to call what he was doing instead. Posturing was still pretty terrible. Posing? He'll worry about it later, "The idea's pretty simple; there's a batter, and a pitcher. The pitcher tries to throw the ball so the batter can't hit it, and the batter wants to hit it. Following?"

Jade nodded, oddly quiet as they walked and talked. She was, to be honest, fascinated by the enthusiasm Dave was letting slip out; maybe he and his brother played when they were younger?

"Now, if the batter misses three times, he's out." Dave continued, oblivious to the small smile or the gesturing of his hands and what they told to his friend. "But lets say he hits, alright? That doesn't mean the batter's job is done, cause now he's gotta run around the bases. Trick is, the outfield's trying to catch the ball-if they do before it touches the ground, the batter's out. If they don't, they can still throw it back to the infield, who try to tag the batter."

"So when the batter's 'safe' that means they can't get, uh, tagged?" Jade asked, feeling a little foolish for needing to be told this sort of thing.

"Right." Dave nodded and continued at a faster pace; the equivalent of a less stoic young man clapping his hands and leaping in the air with glee. "You've got to get around all three bases and get home, and you score a point. If you fill up the bases, they're 'loaded' and if you hit the ball past a certain point, it's an automatic point called a 'home run'. Any questions?"

"Dave, look out!" Jade exclaimed, leaping to the left.

"…that's not a quest-ow!" Dave exclaimed as he felt a heavy weight slam into his back. Struggling to regain his equilibrium, Dave worked to look behind him and, yep, saw the sheepish face of Tavros Nitram, who was busy trying to get control of his wheelchair again. The two wheeled wildly forward, both boys letting out a yelp as they hit a particularly steep hill.

Jade Harley covered her mouth with her hands, horrified by the thought of Dave and that nice Tavros boy getting their necks broken or impaled on a piece of crystal or something out there. Sensitive ears pricked at a hissing giggle, and Jade turned around with a snort of righteous indignation. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the chortling form of Vriska Serket, who had stopped bothering to hold her laughter back when she realized Jade knew she was there anyway.

"Oooooh lighten up! Gog you look like your brother, hands on your hips and everything. It's funny!" The Thief of Light hopped down from her perch on the rocky cliffside, landing only a few feet away from Jade. "Just a little joke, you know? Taaaaaaavros likes the attention, I guess. Unless…you have a problem or something?"

Jade narrowed her eyes as her glasses flashed LED readouts and ran anti-mental tampering programs that hummed gently through the earbuds she had been habitually wearing after the recent incident. "I'm sure they're fine." Jade managed, careful not to give up too much to Vriska's goading. "So if you have time to screw around, you guys had time to make sure the field was okay, huh?"

"Thaaaaaaaat's the idea, princess!" Vriska winked her good eye at Jade, cracking her knuckles and turning around with a yawn. "Really, you should thank me-and Tavros I guess-for being so nice. Now you and Striiiiiiiider have the afternoon all to yourselves!"

Unable to keep from flushing a little at the implication, Jade stubbornly turned to glance over the field. Her glasses glowed green for a second, before she nodded at the spider-woman. "See you tomorrow, then."

Vriska, surprised that Harley had dropped the argument so quickly, shrugged at having a little good fortune for once and decided to peek over the hill and see if bull boy had managed to pull himself to a stop yet.


End file.
